Illusion
by Rugiku
Summary: This is my submission for the SMASH! Fanfiction competition. Well, this is one of them. Please R&R and is AU. Reborn wants to investigate the mysterious house on the edge of town. Is it haunted or something else more sinister?


Illusion

Today was a fine day.

Too fine.

We were lounging around on the front lawn of Tenth's house, either lying quietly on the grass or on reclining chairs that I had brought over ages ago, with a few of my friends nearby chatting lazily with each other.

Tsuna was talking with Yamamoto about something mundane as usual, Tsuna's mum was inside cooking, Lambo and I-Pin were napping at the base of a tree, and Lawn-head Ryohei was _actually_ reading a book.

Yes, it was peaceful, until my stepsister, Bianchi, and Reborn jumped out of the house to announce yet another stupid and pointless challenge.

My cursed stomach refused the soda I was sipping as Bianchi stepped out of the house.

As usual.

"Ugh!" I flopped onto the grass, feeling even more ill as Bianchi rushed over to me with tears in her eyes and hugged me.

Ignoring my predicament, Reborn announced to the crowd assembled, "We are going to investigate the haunted house on the edge of Namimori. We'll travel through the house and determine whether the rumours are true."

"WHAT?" As much as Tsuna is the Tenth Vongola, he's a complete scaredy-cat. Even I admit it. "But those are just rumours! Why are we investigating stories some random person made up to scare little children away from the place?"

"I have a tip off that there is a family who will sabotage the inheritance ceremony. It may lead to clues about them." Reborn glared and the once warm spring Sunday afternoon turned icy. "Do any of you have a problem with that?"

There was a quick shaking of heads and then we set off towards the boundary between Namimori and Kokuyo.

Reborn 'requested' for all the members of the Vongola family be present, so once Chrome and Hibari finally showed up, we headed into the bowels of the creaky, leaky shell.

"Okay, the first rumour is that when people walk into the house, they don't come out for another twenty-four hours." Reborn peered through the dark to read the piece of paper he had brought listing all the rumours related to the dwelling.

"So, that entirely means that once we walk into the house, we just need to walk back out before our twenty-four hour deadline is up?" I questioned, seconds before the warped doors behind us slammed shut on their own accord. Lambo panicked and ran screaming at the moss-ridden doors, scrabbling hopelessly at them. Ryohei dragged the cow off the barrier, and making sure everyone was behind him, slugged the door with a flame-enhanced punch.

The doors rattled, but did not give. Not even a crack on the ageing wood.

If those doors could withstand ring-enhanced attacks, there was a chance we couldn't bust out of the house before the time limit was up.

Frustration leaked out of our group as Reborn frowned. "It looks like these rumours have some truth behind them", he muttered.

Turning, I saw a flash of white turn right into another hallway of the corridor we had entered. Starting, I signalled Tsuna and the others that I had seen something. We ran down the corridor and pursued the light; we had arrived at a shrine painted in cobwebs.

"The records state that there's a female ghost haunting the house. However, she was brutally murdered and the only occupant of the house at the time." Reborn tapped his chin in thought.

The incense sticks had long since stopped burning; the picture of the deceased person was smeared thickly in grime, making the face unrecognisable. The previously gilded bars on either side of the shrine had tarnished beyond repair, the gold leaf was flaking and dull. Patting the shrine over, I found no hidden switches, but I did find three other photo frames facedown on the mantelpiece. Picking up the upright frame, I shoved it and all its sticky baggage into my pocket.

If there were no switches and everything was solid, where did that person go?

"Behind!"

Reborn shouted from Yamamoto's shoulder and our group whirled around to catch the hem of a light dress and a pale foot disappear around the other corridor.

Running after the girl, I glanced into the entry hall.

Only it wasn't the entry anymore.

Screeching to a stop and letting everyone else chase after the spectre, I stared incredulously into the corridor where we had _definitely _entered through.

The front door was not there.

It only stretched down and turned into a T-shaped hall, continuing into the unknown.

"Um, Gokudera…" I whirled around to see Chrome jump and clutch her shirt in fright.

"What?" I snarled.

I didn't make a point on not trusting Chrome, more like her master, Mukuro. Since she was his trusting vessel and subordinate, I could not trust her. I still don't understand why Tsuna is so accepting, especially since the trouble and embarrassment that man had caused for all of us.

The mist guardian opened her mouth to speak before she froze, looking down the 'entrance' corridor. My vision flicked upwards to see long, flowing, white hair and a pale hand brush the filthy walls as the young girl passed.

Grabbing Chrome's hand, I ran pell-mell down the hall and turned the corner.

Another glimpse of the white dress.

Around another corridor.

A flash of white in a doorway.

Shoving open the half-open door.

Into a large dining room.

Reflection in the cups of a secret passage way.

D

O

W

N

.

.

.

CRASH!

"Ow…" Chrome moaned and got off my back.

Groaning, I sat up while rubbing my chest, blood trickled off my scraped arms.

"Oh! You're hurt…" Chrome grabbed my arms and held out her Vongola ring. Purple flames sprang out and licked the torn flesh, healing it. It was so dark in the hole, no moonlight from the distant boarded up windows, no working lights, just darkness. Looking up, I saw a pale face stare down Chrome and I.

"Hey! Can you help us out?" I shouted to the figure above. The figure disappeared, as quick footsteps approached us.

"Gokudera? Chrome? Is that you?" Tsuna poked his head over the rim of the pit. Breathing out a sigh of relief, I waved my arms to show that we were okay.

Now, how to get out? The pit appeared almost four metres deep with debris jutting out of the dry, crumbly earth, and we hadn't brought anything along, nothing but our Vongola rings.

Whirling around, I whispered, "Can you make a rope illusion that we can use to climb out?"

Chrome nodded and concentrated, but stopped abruptly.

"I can't move when I'm making the illusion."

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. Why was it that either she or Mukuro made me look like a fool? Turning around, I motioned for her to get onto my back.

"I'll carry you up, just make the rope already." I sighed and waited until she awkwardly clambered onto my back. Standing, I nodded.

A long, sand coloured rope materialised in front of us, and I heard the others above grab the other end.

"We're ready!" Tsuna shouted from above as I grabbed a fistful of rope.

Using the debris as the occasional foothold, I slowly pulled us out of the hole. As I was about halfway up, Chrome's hold started slipping. Growling, I grabbed one of her legs and wrapped it around my waist, her other leg joining it straight afterwards.

My arms started shaking when we were near the rim. A hand shot down into the chasm to grab my own, and as more joined the first, we were hauled up into relative brightness. Chrome got off my back and with a sigh, the rope dissipated into the air.

Breathing heavily, I grinned awkwardly as Chrome peeked at me from under her eyelashes. She blushed furiously and averted her gaze. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

Looking up, I saw the same frail girl from before; long white hair, dead, brown eyes, ghostly ivory skin and wearing a thin, white dress. However, all of these characteristics paled in comparison to her neck.

There was a scar circling her neck as if her head had been twisted off then sewn back on, leaving her with no voice and a horrific scar in the afterlife.

"Um, are you the ghost we've been following?" Lambo asked the ghost, before Tsuna clamped his hand over Lambo's mouth.

The ghost gave a lonely smile and nodded. She lifted a hand and wrote in the air, _I brought you here for a reason_.

We stood transfixed at the glowing white letters hanging in the air until Reborn asked, "What happened to the two other missing people that came here? What is your name? Who are the dead people on the shrine?"

The ghost smiled knowingly and wrote, _All will be explained later. Now, what is in your pocket Gokudera?_

I started at reading my own name being written in the air. Reaching into all of my pockets, I produced three sticks of dynamite, my storm ring, a blunt pencil, a half empty box of cigarettes, a lighter and the photo frame from the shrine.

Tucking everything else into my pockets, I held up the grimy picture. Rubbing it, dust, cobwebs and something I don't even want to know came off to show the twelve-year-old girl before her death. Holding the picture at arms length, everyone peered over my shoulders to compare the two images.

Perfect match.

The figure in the air wavered, as did the face on the picture. The face warped and split, leaping forwards from both the paper and the air.

With a shout, I hurled the picture at the oncoming monster which bounced off its head. I paused. If it was a ghost, why did the picture just rebound off it? If it's not a ghost, what is it?

Leaping to the side, I dragged Chrome, Reborn and Yamamoto down with me.

As we tumbled to the ground, my eyes slid over to Chrome, more importantly, her ring.

It was just an illusion!

Now we just needed to find the other illusionist. I scanned the area, taking in the smallest of details. The real attacker could be anywhere.

Think! The wielder would force the intruders away from where he or she is hiding. That is unless they're herding us, or more specifically, the Tenth to where they're hiding to attack from behind.

My eyes flickered over to where Hibari had dragged Tsuna, Ryohei and Lambo. Behind them, a pair of gold eyes shone from the darkness.

Whipping out a stick of dynamite, I lit it with a swipe of my amazingly still lit cigarette in my mouth, and tossed it towards Tsuna and the others.

Tsuna then activated his V.R. X-Gloves, which had been slipped on during the confusion, and pushed everyone out of the way just as a gloved hand swung downwards with a knife.

The red stick of explosive tapped the fragile wall where the attacker was hiding and then exploded. Through, the thick smoke, I saw the silhouette of the figure escape as the ghostly attacking figure faded away like mist.

Sighing, I sat back down in relief as the dawn light filtered through the dissipating smoke floating out of the newly formed hole.

There was a horrified scream and I looked over to Tsuna in alarm.

"It's Monday. We wasted our Sunday afternoon, stayed up all night on something useless and now we're late for school!"

Yamamoto snorted and brushed his dust caked form off.

"Let's just take the day off and have a shower first, Tsuna." The baseball freak grinned and looked into the pit Chrome and I had been trapped in before.

His face lost the grin and the eyes began filling with fear. Inside the hole were shredded remains that had long since sunk into the ground and rotted.

Chrome and I looked down at our soiled clothes. Let's just say there were some pretty disgusting things on them.

"A shower would be good." I agreed with Yamamoto for the first time in my life.

We all tramped out into the overgrown garden full of thorns and weeds, arranging places and times as we walked. When we were out of the gate, I looked back. You could still see the hole I had made.

A young girl with white hair and dead, brown eyes stood in the empty space, staring back.


End file.
